Katinka

Sounds good - added to my menu for next week!

Weight Loss: no update

Fitness: Mission Accomplished! No new record.

Nutrition: 71%: Had some ice cream last night and this morning to try and deal with a sore throat. Not all that effective, gr.

Life: No update (but nothing's dead yet, lol)

I think I'm going to do a mini whole30 next week to get back on track (at least Saturday-Friday, maybe longer)

Blergh, yesterday's cold was gross, but I'm (hopefully) over the worst of it now. I bought some ice cream at lunch yesterday, which helped a little but didn't taste nearly as good as I remember ice cream tasting (This was the first time I've had store-bought ice cream since at least December. I am not impressed). Still not feeling 100%, but hopefully I'll feel good enough by this afternoon to have a good workout with my trainer tonight.

March 13 Menu:

Meal 1: Sweet potatoes with Taco Seasoning

             Chicken Sausage with Mustard

             Apple

Meal 2: Pollo in Pottachio

             Carrots

Meal 3: Salmon with Lemon and Bay Leaves

             Green Beans

Meal 4: Protein Shake

I went through this at the end of my Whole30 for about 10 days or so. I have no idea how to fix it, other than to continue drinking lots of water, but in my experience it goes away on it's own. Hang in there!

Weight Loss: no update

Fitness: 25 pushups last night - mission accomplished! I'll keep pushing myself and see how many I can get by the end of the challenge

Nutrition: 100%

Life: Still waiting for first "true" leaves - lots of articles I've read suggest that should happen sometime this week.

I completed Zombies, Run Mission #4 last night - 2.93 miles in 33:14. I was hoping the run I mapped out was a little over 3 miles like my last few had been, but now I know I need to add another block or so. Time wasn't great, but I've been coming down with a cold, so I'm not overly concerned. Thanks to this cold, I'm taking my off night from the gym tonight. I know I've become a workout junkie when I'm disappointed that it's my day off.

March 12 Menu:

Meal 1: Epic Breakfast Skillet

             Apple

Meal 2: Bacon Chicken Bowl

             Brussels Sprouts

Meal 3: Pollo in Pottachio

             Zucchini

Meal 4: Protein Shake

Ack, I didn't post at all this weekend. It wasn't bad, though. We were very busy - hanging (more) crown moulding, visiting friends in MD, cleaning up the yard, and lots of spring cleaning (and finishing our latest Doctor Who dvd!) I did a Zombies, Run mission on Saturday - 3.06 miles in 32:07! Yesterday I went to a HIIT class. I was planning on running again tonight since it was supposed to be the last warm day for the week, but now there's a possibility of rain, so I may end up at the gym instead.

Nutritionally, this weekend wasn't too bad. I had a taste of some lemon bars I made on Friday (I was trying out a new recipe for easter - it's a winner!). Saturday was on-plan for breakfast and lunch, then had a brownie with our friends, and some fries for dinner. I didn't feel great that night, I have a feeling it was the canola oil she made the fries in, since I'm not used to that. Yesterday was back to paleo again. I made the cherry barbeque steak skewers from nomnompaleo last night - this is definitely in my top 3 favorite recipes now. I'm excited to enjoy leftovers for lunch

March 11 Menu:

Meal 1: 1/2 sweet potato

             Chicken Sausage with mustard

             Apple

Meal 2: Cherry Barbeque Steak Skewers

             Savory Sweet Potatoes (Practical Paleo)

              Asparagus

Pre-workout: Deviled Egg

Meal 3: Bacon Chicken Bowls

             Brussels Sprouts

Meal 4: Protein Shake

Week 2 Summary:

Weight Loss: 155.4 (-.2 for week, -1.6 for challenge)

Fitness: 19 pushups

Nutrition: 83% for week (beat last week by 33%!)

Life: Bought pots to replant seedlings, waiting for first "true" leaves.

So - I've learned chronic cardio does not work for me. I've been lifting all winter and seeing great results, but now that the weather is getting a little nicer, I want to start running again. A typical run for me is 3 miles/30 minutes. Any advice for a weekly schedule/balance for cardio vs strength? I also enjoy taking HIIT classes, which I was doing up to 4x per week over the winter, but I'd probably cut back on to replace with cardio, since the weights aren't very heavy.

My thought is 2 days/week of cardio, 2 days/week of heavy lifting, and 2 days/week of HIIT (lighter weights with some cardio tossed in too). Does this sound reasonable? And if not, what do you suggest and why?

It has to be done right - and 90% of the time, I don't acheive that, so I peel it off after cooking.

I completed Zombies, Run mission #2 last night - it was so sunny I think I would have gone outside no matter how cold it was! Luckily it wasn't too cold, and I remembered gloves this time. I ran 3.01 miles in 33:31. Not bad considering how long it's been since I've run on a regular basis!

I'm planning on running again tomorrow since it's supposed to be sunny and over 50, so I'll do a heavy lifting workout tonight.

Bar Squats - 5 sets - (65, 95, 115, 135, 155)

Dead Lift - 3 sets (80lbs)

Bodyweight Rows - 3 sets, 10 rows per set

Pushups - 3 sets

Tricep Dips - 3 sets

Overhead Pull - 3 sets (50lbs)

Ball Pikes - 3 sets

Pull Ups - 3 sets (60lbs resistance)

Dips - 3 sets (60lbs resistance)

March 8 Menu

Meal 1: Plantains, Chicken Sausage, Mustard, Apple

Meal 2: Grilled Green Chicken

             Broccoli

             Avocado

Pre-workout: deviled eggs

Meal 3: Beef (I have no idea what to do with it...)

             Broccoli

             Sweet Potato Crisps (with taco seasoning!)

Weight Loss: no update

Fitness: no update

Nutrition: 85%. Some cookie dough (which I have now thrown out) and tortilla chips after dinner. We had fish and broccoli, and both my husband and I were hungry again an hour later...definitely needed a better fat source or a denser carb (sweet potatoes are my answer to everything)

Life: Uncovered the sprouts yesterday. I'm going to look for a bunch of cheap pots on my lunch break today so I can transplant them when I need to. At this rate, I think I'm probably going to end up giving some away since I don't know what I'd do with 30+ tomato plants, lol. I'm having 20 people for Easter dinner - maybe I'll make "take home a tomato plant" a requirement of being served dessert.

Whoa! What's that app? That might motivate me to do more pushups, and better ones! I did a set of 10 pushups a few days ago, crushing my previous PR of 7! Isn't it exciting to see improvement?

It's an android app - it's just called pushups, it's by a company called runtastic. There is a "training" option that gives you various numbers of pushups with rests in between (to increase your endurance, I guess) and a session/record option where you just record as many as you can.

Weight Loss: no update

Fitness: 19 pushups! I downloaded a pushup app that counts every time your nose gets near the screen. *easily amused*

Nutrition: 90%. I had some pretzels and cookie dough yesterday afternoon.

Life: Sprouts are looking good! I'm a little concerned because the Brandywine Tomato sprouts are starting to touch the top of the "greenhouse" lid - I think I'm going to need to uncover it soon and just let them grow.

Good choice with the Marzano tomatoes, they make the best sauces, I hope they grow in well!

 

 

 

 

My roomate situation doesn't allow me to start growing them indoors, unless I put them in the basement which I think would have plenty of problems.  Any suggestions on stuff to plant once it is warm outside that will have plenty of time to grow?

Oh, I do not miss having roommates. At all. As far as planting things right outside, I've only ever planted transplants outside - I usually just get them at home depot or a local farmers market. This year I'm saving some basil and oregano seeds to start outside since that's what the instructions said to do, but I have no idea how well it will actually work.

The trainer I work with was sick last night, so I ended up doing a Spartacus workout at home. It's 40 seconds on, 20 seconds rest doing 3 sets each of:

Plank with leg raise

Dumbbell Chop

Dumbbell Lunges

Goblet Squat

Squat Press

Dumbbell Row

One Leg Deadlift

Dumbbell Deadlift

Side Lunge and Touch

Not the most epic workout ever, but good enough for a cold rainy night when I don't want to drive to the gym. I also painted our laundry room yesterday, so I was on my feet for a while. Tonight, I'm either going to do another Zombies, Run mission after work, or one of my Denise Austin dvds if the weather is too gross.

I indulged in some (ok, a lot) of cookie dough last night. I forgot that that's the one food that's actually better if you freeze it, not an out of sight, out of mind type thing. I meant to throw it out on my way out the door this morning; I'll have to remember to do that when I get home.

March 7 Menu

Meal 1: Eggs, Avocado, Chicken Sausage, and mustard

Meal 2: Grilled Green Chicken

             Zucchini and Tomatoes

Pre-workout: Deviled Eggs

Meal 3: Lemon-Ghee-Basil-Dill Tilapia

             Green Beans

Also, I took my March progress pictures last weekend. My weight didn't change in February, and neither did my measurements, but the pictures look better - go figure! This is the first set I've taken in the bikini I bought to wear this summer - I'm getting close! I've never actually worn a bikini before - I'm more of a please-don't-look-at-me-I'm-wearing-a-tankini kind of girl, lol.

My husband just called to tell me we got the letter from our homeowner's association approving our 3 raised garden beds - I'm so excited!

So, after spending what felt like most of yesterday peeing, I have determined that the ridiculous spike on the scale was, in fact, water weight. Likely a combination of eating Chinese food and starting my period. Thank goodness that's over with!

Weight Loss: 156.0 (+.4 for week, -1.0 for challenge)

Fitness: no update

Nutrition: 100%

Life: The Marzano tomatoes sprouted too! Now that I have sprouts of all three types of seeds I planted, I just have to work on keeping them alive.

Thanks to the storm that never happened, I got to sleep in this morning The weather called for 5-8" of snow, and we got...rain. Drizzling rain. So since I didn't have to be in work until 10am, I got to make a nice hot breakfast and enjoy it at my kitchen table rather than my desk. The bloating is definitely going down, all I do is pee, lol. Still not sure if it's more related to my period or the Chinese food I ate last weekend, but either way at least it was just water weight! Working out with the trainer tonight, I'll have an update on that tomorrow. I'm also hoping to get in another Zombies, Run workout soon, but the weather has been so gross I can't bring myself to do it.

March 6 Menu

Meal 1: Epic Breakfast Skillet

Meal 2: Chicken Salad

             Carrots

Snack: Deviled Egg

Meal 3: Grilled Green Chicken

             Zucchini and Tomatoes

             Sweet Potatoes

Meal 4: Protein Shake

I am the only female in my classes that can flip a semi truck tire on her own.  I am probably the only one willing to try as well, though.  But that is good for the upper body strength needed to do a chin-up.

 Um, that is pretty bad-ass. Keep up the great work!

Congratulations! Real pushups are the best My husband has gotten (somewhat) used to me constantly checking to see how many pushups I can do at random times - when he sees how nice your arms look, he'll get over it lol.

I always used to eat the skin, because growing up, my parents always said that the skin of the vegetables is the healthiest part. I have no idea how much truth there is to that. However, I married a man who is (slowly but surely) learning to like vegetables for the first time, so I tend to peel them now since I cook for both of us. I dont' think leaving the skins on should be a problem for any recipe, though, just a matter of taste.

To learn how to engage your core while doing pushups, try doing "chest to ground" pushups. You get in a regular pushup position, then lower like you would for a regular pushup, but go all the way to the ground, then pick up your hands to make sure no more weight is on your arms. When you put your hands back down, you'll really have to engage your abs in order to push up. It's less demanding cardio wise since you get a quick break at the bottom, but for me it really helped me with the transition to "regular" pushups.

They're actually in my living room right now, it's too cold outside here, too (it's supposed to snow tonight. I'm so over winter). I read that you should start them inside 6-8 weeks before your final frost date (just google that for your zip code).

We tried to watch blood and chrome when they aired it as a tv special a few weeks back - my husband made it all the way through, I went to bed halfway with the intention of finishing it when it reaired again the next day, but ended up just skipping it. I didn't really like Razor, either though - so far The Plan is the only thing other than the series itself that I've actually enjoyed.